207 Days ’til 40: Junk Food or Healthy Food???

29Jul

Does THIS appeal to you more???Or does this???

Most of you will recognize the french fries in the top photo, but you may not recognize the second photo… it is spaghetti squash – 41 calories for a one cup serving and can be eaten with spaghetti sauce, melted cheese, or a number of other toppings. I LOVE french fries, but, surprisingly, I am also learning to love things such as spaghetti squash. It take time, but it does make such a difference.

I find I feel SO much better when I choose the healthier foods over the junk foods. That said, it can be grueling to muster up the willpower to resist the junk food, particularly during pms, or high stress times. Yet, I do find that when I am able to guide myself towards the healthier options it is easier for me to wade through the various stressors that I encounter along life’s path. There will ALWAYS be a stressor of some sort, there will ALWAYS be an excuse or reason to choose the junk food (or “comfort” food). Often these reasons are also the critical reasons for us to choose the healthier path. If we are sad or stressed or sick, all the more reason to gravitate towards options that will refuel us.

Today, 207 days ’til 40, I continue to challenge myself to choose healthier eating options. There will be days when I am more successful than others – as long as I have more successes than failures I am on the right path. I hope you are too!

An effective message – as always. Actually, spaghetti squash prepared well – IS DELICIOUS! I really enjoy your writing very much and believe that my readers would too. What do you say to putting a link to each others blog on our blog-sites? Properlyset up, it should drive more traffic to both our sites. Let me know.

I don’t like to “promote” myself on other blogs. You’ll find I have done it … exactly once … with you. If you look at the following link, I am starting to post some healthier snacks/foods than the things you find in your grocery store. Just a thought for you.

I am diabetic and so is my ex-husband. Our two boys are future diabetics. Only my choices when they are 5 and 4 can teach them the better choices when they are bigger, thus staving off their turn at being “diabetic.” The recipes I am working on posting, right now, offer some healthier choices made at home. I am not done. I’ll be adding more that I have collected.

Ahh, how I miss ice cream! When I gave up sugar 8 months ago ice cream was the hardest thing to give up. I do eat sugar free ice cream once every month or so, but it is not the same! I miss Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby!!!

I love fries too – and it doesn’t have to be junk food – they can be oven baked and becomes automatically healthy food. Have eat far too many fries now under my trip to US & Canada, but why not – we only live once. I think that even junk food is good for us – if we eat it … once in a while and when we crave for it.

We call them chips, of course, except that the narrow, woody toothpicks sold by McDonald’s take the name “French fries”.

Well, answering the question, the lower picture looks more attractive, particularly because of the colour, so I react positively towards it, but I have no idea what it would taste like and would not have recognised it unaided as food. Consequently, if I were hungry, the picture of the chips might bring out some saliva but the other stuff wouldn’t.

I have a very deep, profound love for French fries (I’m Belgian, that might explain things). I can’t help it. The love is too deep. But luckily I’ve got a great mother who prepares the most delicious dishes that are very healthy, and sometimes they’re even meatless! Yay!
But overall, I consider myself tot young to care about junk/ healthy food…🙂

Wise choice, 400! Though I am not a fan of spaghetti squash, I love all other squashes for their colors and different tastes. Haven’t had Mickey D’s fries in almost two years, so I’ve lost that craving…better to have a baked red potato with plain Greek yogurt…much more satisfying!

Good luck with choosing healthier food options. I began by journey about 6 months ago. It has been tough, but really rewarding and I feel SO MUCH BETTER!
Incidentally, I also have a little more than 400 days till 40, but 40 is looming large. Good luck figuring things out!
~Theresa SCD Griddle

Thank you so much, and I hope that your journey to 40 is a good one (I am now closer, at 207 days!) I also began to eat healthy about 6 months ago and I also feel so much better…. something I have to remind myself on those days when it is hard to resist the temptation to binge like crazy (thankfully, those days are limited!) 🙂

I have to say I recognized the spaghetti squash. Ek. I can’t stand it! I’ve found that going low carb (and I mean very low carb) I have way less cravings for junk food. My cravings are also less intense than they were before I changed my diet.

If you want to keep some of your comfort foods try baking with almond flour or coconut flour. It is seriously amazing and can curve cravings, plus you get better nutritional benefit from it!

I don’t have much choice but to eat healthier as I’m diabetic and I have a wheat intolerance. But I am finding so many things that can replace the fast food that I used to love! I am for healthier lifestyles! In mind and body!

I also have a wheat intolerance, which has ended up being a good thing for me because I do eat healthier when I am forced to avoid wheat (usually!) I also cannot have sugar, so it sounds like we are in a similar boat. I find that my taste buds have changed and now fruit and vegetables that used to taste sour taste sweet to me, it is strange!

I had to give up gluten and that meant giving up fries as most places fry them in the same oil as things that have been breaded. Frankly, I’m too lazy to do the frying and cleaning up myself so I live without. I love spaghetti squash. Haven’t met a squash I don’t like really. Actually, there aren’t too many foods that I’ve met that I don’t like. Perhaps that is my problem…🙂 Thankfully, I can cook fairly well and ditched processed food a while back, so at least most of my choices are healthy.

Wow, that is interesting with gluten and fries – I also cannot eat gluten, but I have been able to eat fries without any issues (is that lucky or not, I am not really sure?????) My challenge is to be more like you and ditch as many processed foods as possible…. I work long days and get really lazy, at times. I am much better than I used to be, but there is still much room for improvement!

Never heard nor tried spaghetti squash but will definitely be looking it up now!🙂
All true about needing to stick to something more nutritional and healthy especially at times of stress when you need your abilities and faculties at full and all.

It is a shame, but sometimes the healthy choices are the hardest. I think of all the time I spend on the road for work and the terrible choices I have made. It is so easy, in the moment, to say – oh, it is ok – I don’t eat like this all the time!

Hey, thanks for liking one of the posts at Tales of Arythia :http://talesofarythia.wordpress.com/. Really appreciate it. Love the idea of your blog. And the spaghetti squash looks really good. My family would definitely eat that. We grow squash so it is especially useful!